The Secret of Teddy Blanco
by Page-Mistress
Summary: Zed doesn't see it coming, but at least he can say he dealt with it better than Ned. My take on the mystery of the third Blanco sibling.


A/N: I randomly decided that the reason Ted was the "Forbidden Brother" was because she wasn't their brother anymore. Now it's more that they don't call her that anymore.

Just as randomly, I spontaneously binge-wrote this fic.

And because Thanksgiving is a time for being thankful for the good in your life, including your family, I'm posting it now.

It's also my birthday, but that doesn't have anything to do with it.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

* * *

Zed loves his brothers, he really does.

But it was easier to love Ned with distance between them. in part because of Ned's bad habit of not always thinking before he says or does something, and thus making a mess of things or pissing someone off, or overreacting.

So when Ned randomly echos him and just starts ranting, he's glad for the distance, because otherwise he'd have whacked him to make him shut up.

As it is, he can barely understand what's got him so riled up. A lot of it's just angry noises, and rambling about other things. All he really gets is that Ted went to see him about something, and now Ned's decided he's crazy and that they have no younger brother anymore.

Zed's left feeling exasperated (not uncommon after talking with Ned), and confused (that was new).

"Was that Ned?"

Zed jumped at the sound of his younger brother's voice. "Don't do that!" He said, turning and clutching his chest.

"Sorry."

Ted looked scared and hurt. All Zed could think was 'the hell did Ned do?'

"Take it you want to tell me whatever you told Ned?"

The youngest Blanco nodded.

"Okay, yer scarin' me." Well, 'scare' might be a strong word. But Ted was the outgoing and friendly one. Him being so tightlipped and not smiling was weird.

"Need you to sit down for this, Zeddy. Got somethin' real hard to tell ya."

Zed raised a brow, but sat down as bid. "Ted, I'm yer brother. Ain't a lot you can't tell me."

Ted took a deep breath. "I'm not yer brother."

Zed stared at Ted. He'd seen him born (unfortunately), and knew for a fact that their folks were faithful to each other. That just left…

"…oh," was all Zed could say as it clicked in his head.

"Yeah," Ted replied.

Zed opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to think of something to say. "Er, how long ya felt like this?"

"Long time. Got no idea how happy I was that my build isn't like yours and Ned's, no offense," Ted quickly added. "I tried so damn hard not to be like this. Kept telling myself nothin' was wrong. I just… finally got tired of it. Got tired of bathing and hating what I'm washin', tired of looking at the mirror and thinkin' I don't look right. Tired of having the wrong parts."

Well, this explained Ned's call. Far as he was probably concerned, this was something Ted had just decided.

Still, he was gonna punch him for this.

"So I went to Ned, hopin' he could help. But he freaked out! Kept bringin' up all the women I've been in a relationship with. I just kept tellin' him I was trying to convince myself I was something I wasn't. And I'm not even interested in women like that! But it's hard to meet a guy when you want one to want you as a woman!" Ted was babbling now. This was something Zed was used to. Ted got like this when he was on a roll. Their grandma on their dad's side had been like that too, and they used to joke that it was genetic… wait.

"Ya went to Ned fer help?"

Ted's arms went up in exasperation, "I don't exactly know lotsa doctors, Zed! And I might not be entirely sure if he has a medical license, he's at least got backin' from a big corporation!"

Zed massaged his forehead, "Ted, there's a lot of things I don't think ya need a medical degree to know how to do right. Amputating limbs, removing bullets, delivering babies-"

"Oh my God, are you and Ned ever gonna stop bringin' that up?!"

"To name a few," Zed continued, ignoring the interruption. "What you want? Fuck, I wouldn't try doin' that for any amount of money."

"Oh…" The despondent look on Ted's face all but physically broke his heart.

Zed massaged his forehead, "Come back tomorrow, okay? Bring some stuff with you. Might take a while to figure out, and it'll be easier if you just stay here. I… got some stuff to take care of, right now."

As soon as Ted left, still looking as sad as he'd ever seen, Zed started making calls. The first one being to Ned.

"Ned, it's me. Yeah, Ted just left. Yeah, I heard all about it." Zed glared, "Okay, I'm just gonna skip the part where I listen to you rant about stupid shit and get right to the part where I tell ya to shut your damn mouth and listen. Are you pissed because this is how Ted really feels, or cause you hate when things don't happen the way you expect? Think very carefully now, or I'll shoot a tranq in your ass and dye yer hair pink. Again." He was pretty sure he still had some dye left.

There was silence before Ned finally answered. The answer caused Zed to roll his eyes. "Yeah, well, is that 'maybe' enough to send some cash? I can handle the rest…"

* * *

The next day, Ted comes back, and there's a shuttle ship in Fyrestone.

Zed just hands money over to her, courtesy of himself and Ned, and a few contacts. Despite his lack of license, he had managed to make contact with some people who did, or at least knew other people who did. "Don't go coming back until yer happy with yerself, got it?"

Ted cries and wraps her arms around him tightly before she leaves.

* * *

It's a while before he sees her again. As in, a few years.

But after the opening of a few Vaults, Ned setting a new standard of stupid for himself ("Seriously, fuckin' zombies! What is wrong with you?!"), Handsome Jackass finally going to hell, entering an actual, honest to God relationship with Dr. Patricia Tannis, Theodora Blanco finally comes back to Pandora, and she's still the Teddy he knew and grew up with in a lot of ways, only she practically radiates just how comfortable she is in her own skin, something he now realizes she never was before. Happy with her dark hair to her upper back, her curves between her waist and hips, the chest that he really does not need to hear anyone compliment, thank you Moxxi, her uterus (as Patricia so helpfully points out), and that Briam guy with the glasses that she brought with her who keeps smiling at her.

It's easy to be happy for Teddy ("No, not with an "i", Zeddy. I may have made my name feminine, but I don't need to do that to my nickname."). He's pretty sure Ned will come around once they go see him.

…also, apparently wanting to threaten your sister's boyfriend on principle is a very easy habit to get into.

Zed smiles as he looks over at Teddy, taking a picture to send to Ned ahead of time so he can see just how happy she is.

He really does love his siblings.

* * *

Ned will get used to the idea in time (originally, he was a complete ass about the whole thing and refused to talk to Ted at all, but I dropped that idea. He's selfish and a bit of a moron, but there's worse people on Pandora, so it didn't seem fair). And no, I'm not certain he has a license to practice medicine any more than Zed does.

Theodora "Teddy" Blanco just feminized her original name because she was just becoming the girl she was meant to be.

I know a Brian. He was a good friend in high school. He was always patient and understanding of me. Maybe that's why his name popped into my head.

This is my first time writing a fic like this, so tell me what you think, guys!


End file.
